A number of European auto mags were also invited to that presentation, and they are generally thrilled. I guess therel'll be more and more in the coming weeks.

Unfortunately, the 400h at my local (and only) Lexus dealership was only on a two-week loan from Lexus' Belgian headquarters, so chances of having a test drive are rather slim - but check out www.lexus.be and call them. One never knows....

You mention that you felt a lack of power in the RX300 you drove - I can assure you that this will not be the case with the 400h. It's 0-100 km/h acceleration figures are in V8-powered X5/ML territory, and it feels like that. Of course, if you constantly wring every one of the 272HP out to max, you'll end up with a not very outstanding fuel economy - but still less than what you'd have had to feed one of the two mentioned SUV's.

What is most impressive is the way it can move off quite briskly from a stop on electric power only - like an electric powered train pulling out of a station, but on mute ;-)

I really liked it - and it's really mostly a matter of principle that makes me want to wait until I get the prices of the coming W164 M-Class Mercedes before taking the definite decision. Additionally, my wife seems to have taken a fancy to the design, which of course is very positive.

This weekend, the first pictures of the new B-Class from Mercedes came out (I would maybe prefer something more compact (and economical), but still with lots of interior space), and though she liked it, she turned it down because of the lacking 4WD. A pity that Mercedes haven't gotten as far in hybrid technology as Toyota, because this body style (sandwich bottom) could make an excellent basis for a hybrid vehicle (even 4WD) without sacrificing any interior space.

In fact, the only SUV's of any kind that get better combined MPG than the RX400h are the 2WD and 4WD hybrid Escapes. The next car after the RX400h on the EPA "SUV" class list is the Toyota Rav4, 2WD, 4 cyl, at 26 MPG combined.

Only one EPA "luxury" class car gets better mileage (the Mercedes E300 cdi diesel at 30MPG combined), and no EPA "upscale" class cars do better. You have to go to the "family sedans" class (where the Prius is classified) to find a better performing gasoline car.

In that class, the RX400h gets the same 28MPG combined as the 4 cylinder Toyota Camry (0-60 9.2sec)!

Diesels are very efficient, both due to the higher compression ratio (above 20:1), and the fact that direct injections eliminates the throttle plate and it's associated low load efficiency reduction. But diesels have innate and potentially unsolvable problems related to emissions from particulate matter (soot), carcinogenic partial combustion products (like aldehydes), and fuel contaminants (like sulphur). Diesels are not now legal in CA, or any US state that follows CA's rules (like NY).

Hybrids are also very efficient, and their emissions are actually better than a comparable MPG gas only car. This is because they use battery power for the low load stop and go, and idle conditions that create most of the pollution. The gas engine is run mostly at higher load levels where emissions are lower.

I think sunbyme is right, also as far as the European models go. You might be able to choose if you want the sunroof or not, and even that seems to be standard (depends on who you ask - my LUX dealer gave me a bit of BS on the availability of the sunroof being dependent on Lexus wanting to have the car classified as Euro 6), and you can of course choose exterior colors. The interior is either charcoal or tan leather with aluminium trim - the grey leather and the wood trim will not be available, according to my (German and Luxembourgish) sources.

According to my local dealer, the only options are color, ML audio, & Rear Seat Entertainment. There will also be some options that would be available on the RX330 that will not be available on the 400h such as; air suspension and Laser Cruise Control.

Although I've read that Lexus has already made an online system available to those that have put down deposits, the latest news I've gotten from Lexus is that they are still not totally settled on final options and prices and won't make the ordering system available until these are final.

Although the people that have placed deposits will get first pick of the available vehicles, it seems like it might be a while before they actually have access to the vehicle they would have ordered if given the chance.

Nothing so interesting as that. Settings include: time delay on head/interior lights off, sensor level to determine when headlights auto-on, doorlocks unlock when car is put in park vs. manually, doors lock when car put in drive vs. at 15 mph. There are other programmable settings in a similar vein.

I am rather disappointed that the Laser Cruise Control will not be available on the RX400h. Is this for certain? I sure hope they change their mind about this option since I find this extremely helpful on my LS430 on the highway. I think it is the most significant option they offer. I sure hope Lexus changes its mind about this & it does become available afterall. We are number 17 on the waiting list at my dealer. This will be mainly driven by my wife. I am calling the dealer tomorrow to see if they can somehow persuade Lexus to include Laser Cruise Control as an option. I am willing to pay premium price for this. Please Lexus! Include this option.

I agree! I'm also rather disappointed that they will not be offering the smart ignition system that's available on the Toyota Prius. I would have been nice not to have dangling keys.I had heard that the air suspension offered much improved handling (less lean in corners). It would certainly have been nice to have an option that allowed some control of the cars handling (sigh).

Some of the early promotional material for the RX400h bragged about 600 mile cruising range. I wonder what happened to that. With a 17.2 gallon fuel tank and 26mpg highway, the range is quite disappointing (about the same as a LX470, which is equally diaappointing.) Interestingly, the toyota.com info on the Highlander hybrid mentions a 600 mile range. I presume that this is out-of-date information.

We saw our salesman today. He said Lexus will NOT be e-mailing the wait list people as earlier reported. He said Lexus said it was too difficult to do. He said the latest he heard was that this dealership (near Seattle) could be getting five or six 400hs for April 15th, a few more if it's a truckload. Said a couple of their guys drove one down in Cal. recently and said they were duly impressed with the giddyap. Mpg - 26 highway, 30 city.

For those of you on the wait-list, be sure and read the latest issue of Road and Track for a brief article on the 400h. Most disconcerting, for me at least, is that the writer says the vehicle cannot be used off-road, as apparently the rear electric motors can load-up and fail in distressed driving conditions. Not your usual AWD vehicle capabilities, right?

Anyone who spends $44K-$50K for a Lexus hybrid SUV and then wants to do "real offroading" just bought the wrong car anyway.

Here's the Road and Track reviewer:

"One thing you can't do is drive off-road, which will no doubt disappoint the tens of RX owners who routinely slog through the mud. The reason is that under load and without sufficient speed, the air-cooled rear motor could fry."

Anyone who spends $44K-$50K for a Lexus hybrid SUV and then wants to do "real offroading" just bought the wrong car anyway.

Might be real bad if they are trying to get up the beach ahead of the tide and get stuck in the sand. If you have a 4X4 you expect it to be able to function as a 4X4. You paid for it and it should be available if needed. I'll bet there are people in LA right now trying to get through mudslides in their SUVs that would not like to find out it only works on dry land or 3 inches of snow. Quit making excuses for poor engineering. Poster wwest months ago questioned this very thing and many posters gave him a bad time for even thinking that Toyota could screw up.

quote gagrice-". If you have a 4X4 you expect it to be able to function as a 4X4. You paid for it and it should be available if needed. I'll bet there are people in LA right now trying to get through mudslides in their SUVs that would not like to find out it only works on dry land or 3 inches of snow. Quit making excuses for poor engineering."-end quote

It's not a 4x4, it has an AWD system, and you know the difference Gary.

If they wanted to make a 4x4 Off Road Hybrid and saw a market for it, they WOULD make one. This is not for that. It's a smallish, car-based, crossover SUV and is not made for offroading.

Lexus/Toyota is not trying to fool anyone (oH the ConSpirAcy !!! ))))):)

Gary may have confused his zoloft and took metamucil when he posted that. I am quite certain that the system will perform admirably in ALL road situations. I once owned an RX300 and believe me, this car is NOT capable of offroading in anything other than a fire road or gravel road.